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Argolis was originally known as Xxbrmm and was home to a large number of tribes which shared a warrior culture and chivalric values. The tribe known as the Argolins eventually subjugated the rest of the planet and renamed it Argolis, which was generally considered to be an improvement. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive)

The development of high technology did not curb the aggressive ways of the Argolin people, which eventually led to catastrophe when they encountered the equally belligerent Foamasi. In 2250, a twenty minute war between the two devastated both Argolis and Foamas, leaving all the Argolin survivors sterile.

The Argolin abandoned their warlike ways and devoted themselves to peace and pleasure, building on their world the first of the Leisure Hives. They also began experiments in tachyon control in an attempt to save their race from impending extinction. The experiments produced only one newborn Argolin, Pangol. (TV: The Leisure Hive)

The Foamasi had also survived the war and, ironically, were apparently the only race in the galaxy able to survive on the surface of Argolis unprotected. A criminal organisation known as the West Lodge began secret negotiations to buy the planet from the Argolins, causing disasters in the Hive to drive down the purchase price.

The Fourth Doctor and agents of the legitimate Foamasi government stopped the plan, but it gave Pangol the pretext he needed to use the Hive's tachyon generator to create an army of clones with which to restore Argolis to its former glory. Fortunately the clones proved unstable and in the confusion Pangol was regressed to infancy. The crisis had however led to the Argolins perfecting many of the flaws in their tachyon technology, which appeared to place the future of both race and planet on a rather more solid footing than had previously been the case. (TV: The Leisure Hive)

Prior to the Foamasi War Argolis appears to have been run along semi-feudal autocratic lines, with a strong emphasis on personal prowess and honour. The traditional of absolute loyalty to the war-leader was deeply engrained and facilitated Pangol's attempt at seizing power, many years after the old traditions had supposedly been abandoned. Argolis appeared to have been an aggressively expansionistic world at this time with an economy presumably geared to reflect this.

After the war, the Argolins were in theory pacifists, devoted to the recreational needs of others. The Leisure Hive effectively comprised Argolin society, and was run as a business with the Chair of the Board the de facto head of state for the planet. The planet's economy revolved solely around its status as a tourist attraction. (TV: The Leisure Hive)

Argolis had an impressively high technological level both before and after the war, although the ends to which this was put obviously differed significantly. Despite the quasi-archaic dress affected by the Argolin leaders, their battle fleet had sufficient firepower to devastate an entire planet within twenty minutes — though their own defences were not strong enough to prevent the same fate befalling their homeworld.

After 2250, Argolis was still able to build and maintain a luxury resort like the Hive, fully shielded from the irradiated wasteland outside. Attractions such as zero-gravitysquash were also available.

The key feature of Argolin technology at this time was their development of applied tachyonics, almost uniquely in the galaxy. This technology was of a sufficiently high level to pique the interest of the Time Lords who visited the Hive. The Tachyon Recreation Generator which was the basis of this technology was in fact fundamentally flawed, however, and required the insertion of TARDIS components before it was made fully functional. (TV: The Leisure Hive)